Product Spotlight: Melinda’s Gluten Free Goodies

When it comes to baked goods, there are usually two constants in the treats that come out of my kitchen: flour, and denseness.

I am a sucker for a really dense, rich, moist cake or brownie. Who isn’t? I also usually choose white flour for baking – because it’s cheap, it’s pretty fail-safe, and I’ve (thankfully) got no wheat allergies.

That’s why I was curious to mix it up recently and try some of the packet baking mixes from Brisbane-based company, Melinda’s Gluten Free Goodies. Recently I tested out two of the mixes: Gingerbread Loaf, and Chocolate Brownies.

I’ve actually made gluten free brownies before from scratch, and they were pretty tasty, although they didn’t rise too much, and they had that slighty gritty taste that so many gluten free flours have. Melinda’s put my past gluten free brownie baking to shame! The end result this time was a wonderfully chunky brownie, which was also rich, chewy, and super dense. No grittiness here:

How good do these look? They were honestly some of the best brownies I’ve had. I shared them (very generously) with some friends who also loved their fudginess.

Next up – because of course I need to eat two different baked goods per day – I made the Gingerbread Loaf.

It also rose beautifully, and made my house smell so damn good I was expecting Hansel and Gretel to come knocking on the door. This loaf was a little lighter and not as sweet as the brownies. It had a very strong ginger flavour, which I loved, but some ginge-haters might not. The texture was again identical to that of a non-gluten free loaf – dense, crumby, and moist. My only complaint with the Gingerbread Loaf was that it had just a slight gritty aftertaste. This was super subtle though, and D didn’t notice it at all – and it really didn’t put me off enough to stop chowing down.

I loved how dead easy it was to make both of these desserts – for both mixes, they required minimal additional ingredients (a couple of eggs, a few dollops of butter), a quick mix, and they were good to go. Plus, the mixes are easy to make dairy-free (or even vegan) too – there’s even suggestions on the box.

Coeliac sufferers must be rejoicing that there’s a company out there like Melinda’s. Even I’m happy to find a packet mix that tastes as good as something made from scratch.